


To Fly or to Fall?

by WrittenInBallpoint (SorryNotSorryNow)



Category: DCU, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Batfamily (DCU), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Season 3 can suck it, What am I doing with my life?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24537850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorryNotSorryNow/pseuds/WrittenInBallpoint
Summary: "This is a bad idea.""I'm sure it'll be fine.""This is a terrible idea.""Oh come on, what's the worst that could happen, baby bird?""The demon brat could bring his katana. Or kryptonite. Or just piss off the Team enough to level the mountain so he won't have to come here again. Or how about the endless list of things that could go wrong when you introduce Damian to Bart?""... It'll be fine."After a string of events in Gotham, Damian is forced to join the Team. It goes about as well as you'd expect. While he's stuck wasting time with a group of "incompetent children", there are forces still working in the background, and Damian struggles to keep his past from being dragged into The Light.My take on Damian joining Young Justice. Not canon compliant after S2. There are many inconsistencies. Deal with it.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	To Fly or to Fall?

**Author's Note:**

> Just some context:  
> This story is set after season two with a few add-ons  
> \- Wally is back after being stuck in the speed force (because I want him in the story and curse the producers who killed him)  
> \- All four batbros are in this story, but the relationship I will be focusing most on is Damian and Dick  
> \- I want Mount Justice to still be there, hence it will still be there  
> \- Like I said, the cast is post-season 2. Apart from Static (end of S2), Damian is the only new addition to the team  
> \- I am electing to ignore THE ENTIRETY OF SEASON 3, mainly because I don't like how Jason and Damian were introduced in that (for the entire 20 seconds of screentime they had)
> 
> This isn't really canon-compliant (at all). It's basically a mish-mash of a bunch of canons which I'm just gonna go with and see how it goes. Please comment on anything you think I could improve on.
> 
> This is the first fanfiction that I've actually posted. I'll try to update as much as possible but it probably won't be consistent for the first few chapters (considering I'm posting this instead of working on that uni paper that's due in 18 hours).
> 
> Again, I'd love to hear any feedback or plot ideas. 
> 
> Chao! 😆

October 19 - 3:17 EDT

Gotham City, New Jersey

It was a quiet night in Gotham. No police sirens ringing through the air. No howling wind that made capes billow out to create imposing figures on the rooftops. No traffic. No rain. No alarms. No lights in the sky that signalled there was trouble to come.

Of course, there were the regular sounds of muggings, gunshots or cursing that were always present, but even they seemed to fade into the eerie stillness that was rarely found in the city.

For the local crimefighters, however, the air was filled with a quiet buzz of anticipation as three sets of eyes scanned a warehouse by the docks for any signs of movement. The area was currently completely devoid of life, save for the rats that infested most of the nearby buildings. The black water was undisturbed on the cold autumn night. The only sign of unrest was the occasional pigeon that would crash into the warehouse windows. The most accurate word to describe it was quiet.

The exact same as it had been for the last 5 hours.

Red Robin was hidden at the top of a crane where he had a perfect view of Gotham River and Batman was perched on top of an abandoned apartment complex almost directly behind the warehouse. The fourth Robin was camped out on a warehouse a few down the row from the one being monitored, covering the only road in. He was also starting to get highly impatient.

"Tt. Batman, are we even sure the smugglers will be coming tonight? They could have gotten word that we were here, or had a change of plans that we missed. We may just be wasting our time here."

He addressed Batman when he spoke into his comms, but seemed to forget the one other person was listening who decided to deign him with an answer.

"Calm down, Demon Brat. Our intel is solid. There's a shipment of smuggled goods, we're assuming drugs or ammunition, due sometime tonight. I've been monitoring chatter for any changes and there's nothing that indicates that they know we're here."

Robin bristled at the moniker but maintained his composure when he replied.

"Maybe you've been misinformed, Red Robin. I haven't seen any sign of thugs coming in and their long past their expected arrival time. It wouldn't be the first time your intel has been inaccurate."

He smirked a little at the silence after his insult but snapped his neutral facade back into place as he brought up his binoculars for at least the hundredth time. As much as he wanted this mission to be called off at this point, he wouldn't disappoint Batman by slacking off.

"As much as that wounds me, Robin, I'm positive that they'll be coming tonight. Maybe you'd like to gather intel for our next stakeout, with your clearly superior hacking skills."

Robin scowled and bit back a retort. Out of all of his supposed 'siblings', Tim Drake managed to get under his skin the most. Even though Grayson was annoying, he was tolerable at least, and Todd was easy enough to undermine when he did try to insult Damian, at least when he was around. Despite seeing his error in trying to eliminate the interloper, and acknowledging his skills as a hero (which Damian would not admit to on his dying breath), the two weren't exactly on friendly terms. Robin turned his attention to the other person on the commlink, who had carefully remained silent until then.

"Father, why did Drake have to come with us? Why not one of the others?"

In the moment of silence that followed, Damian cursed himself for forgetting to use the right names. He could hear his father's annoyance at the whole situation in his tone.

"Nightwing and Batgirl are on a mission with the Team. Red Hood is occupied with his own interests—" He could practically hear the downturn of his lips at the word.

"—and frankly not suitable for this sort of operation. Red Robin is qualified and proficient at this kind of work; besides, it was his case to begin with. Now stop complaining and get back to work."

Damian could hear Drake snicker over the comms and his scowl deepened, but he decided it would be wise to keep his mouth shut. He could deal with Red Robin's pathetic gloating later, right now, he still had a job to do. A boring and pointless job, yes, but still a job. He let out an almost inaudible sigh and turned to scan down the (still empty) street. He would much rather have spent the night smashing in the noses of some low-life scum or doing his usual patrol with Batman, which he found quite enjoyable under most circumstances. But between the nuisance who had tagged along and the fruitless results of their efforts, he was more irritable than usual. If he had to sit still for much longer he might just go seek out Drake for a friendly spar.

Maybe a year is too long without trying to kill him…

Just as he was contemplating numerous ways he could make up for that particular deficit, he heard Red Robin's voice crackle over the communicators.

"I can see a barge coming this way. Power's out; they're just drifting with the current. Probably trying to avoid coming up on any scanners, even thermal's barely picking them up. There are no men on the deck but I can see someone steering. I think it's our smugglers. At the rate they're going, ETA's approximately 10 minutes."

"Good job. Robin, keep an eye out for any incoming land side. They won't walk in blind with the goods."

After humming his affirmative and pushing down any doubts he had, for now, he crouched down a little lower and scoured the roads for any signs of potential backup. Not even a minute later, he saw several sets of headlights light up the road after rounding a corner.

"I have incoming. Three vans, armoured, and a delivery truck. Wild guess says they're not delivering your typical packages. The men in the cabs all have semi-automatic weapons. They'll be at the warehouse in 2 minutes. Looks like Red Robin's assumptions were correct. I'll make my way closer now."

He had just started packing up the few supplies he had out when he heard Batman respond.

"Negative. Meet me on the east side and we'll move from there. Red Robin, do you have visuals?"

Robin's mouth twitched a little at the apparent lack of trust he was being given, but he did as he was ordered anyway.

"Yes, I have visuals. The barge is still heading this way, still no power. I'll keep you updated."

As soon as the trucks rumbled past his warehouse, Damian shot off his grappling line and steadily moved to Batman's location, seeing his brooding figure on a stack of shipping containers overlooking the warehouse. He met up with him just as the vans arrived at their destination in by the docks while the truck waited behind the warehouse.

"So Batman, what's the plan?" He kept his tone cool, trying to hide his anticipation in favour of professionalism. He walked forward to stand directly beside him, watching the figures below start unloading the vans. There were six people in each van, and another two in the cab of the truck. If they combined with however many guards were certainly on that barge the trio would be dealing with a substantial sum of firepower, a grouping of about equal size to a large platoon.

"These smugglers are obviously prepared for interference. Quick insertion and extraction. They've taken every precaution to not raise any suspicion. If it weren't for Red Robin's intel, we probably wouldn't have found them at all."

Robin bristled again at his father's praise for his predecessor, silently grateful that he hadn't said it over the comms - Drake had a big enough head as is.

"Move to the south side of the warehouse and watch until the boat arrives. I'll take the north. Observe, do not engage."

Batman seemed to emphasise the last line as he glanced at Robin, whose impatience wasn't helped by the lecture he was receiving. His nose turned up in annoyance.

"I'm aware of the need to stay out of sight, Batman. I'll let you know when I'm in position." With that, Robin fired his grapple again and swung out into the night, keeping to the shadows and electing to ignore any venom that might've slipped out in his words. He gave the waiting vehicles a wide berth and circled back a little to get to his new position, leaping the 20-foot gap left in between two buildings and creeping to the edge of the warehouse roof directly next to his targets.

"I'm in position." He murmured into his comm. while glancing over the small ledge he was perched next too.

"So am I. Red Robin, ETA on the barge."

"Four minutes. No change in status. It looks like they've almost finished securing the area. Two of the men just went back, probably to get the van, depending on where they pull up I might not be able to see the cargo from my position. Should I move?"

Sure enough, Robin heard the quiet roar of an engine and saw headlights again as they moved the truck down the side of the warehouse out to the waterfront. As he followed the truck, creeping along the roof he was on, he caught sight of what could be a change in his luck.

"No, stay where you are for now. As soon as the boat docks, head down and towards Robin's location. From there, once we see the goods, we can come up with a plan of attack." As if he needed the further motivation of Drake's arrival to finally make his move.

"Batman. I've come across an open window at the top of the warehouse on my side. I can get in and maybe get some audio, as well as a closer look at whatever supplies they brought. I can get in now without anyone seeing me." As soon as he let them know his plans, he fired his grapple gun right next to the window, tugging to make sure it had a firm latch on the concrete and double-checking that no smugglers were coming his way.

"Negative, Robin. Stay at your position and keep an eye for any more incoming vehicles."

"You should have a visual on the road from your position, and it will be easier to get closer now while there are fewer guards. I have an easy way in and onto the rafters." "Robin, stay at—"

"'Observe, don't engage'. I'll stay out of sight and report back what I hear." And with that, he leapt towards the warehouse, retracting his grapple gun as he did so he landed crouched against the wall, a good 25 feet in the air. As soon as he'd peeked through to check that the coast was clear, he detached his grapple and silently slipped inside the window, landing on one of the rafters the crisscrossed the roof. Despite having a perfect view now of the docks and all of the men, he was almost completely obscured by darkness. Robin allowed himself a little smirk before creeping towards the men to hopefully catch some of their conversations.

"Robin, I swear if you—"

"Too late. I'm already inside. It would be counterproductive to go back now." Drake's attempt at swearing at him was cut off by the Dark Knight's growl, which Robin promptly ignored as he settled himself in the best spot he could find to listen in.

"What can you report." An irritated Batman rumbled in his ear. Robin focused on the closest two men talking, using his trained ears to pick out their words from the other chatter.

"… can't believe it took so damn long. They were due two hours ago!" "Chill out Mikey, they said they had a little trouble loading. You know how it gets; fuckers just love to make life difficult."

The other man laughed and the pair went back to idle chatter, while Robin quietly reported back to Batman.

"There was a delay from the other end. Loading troubles that cost them two hours, but they must have factored that into their plans so they wouldn't have to hang around. From the way their talking, there might be some animosity between the two parties, but don't count on it. Something's not right here."

Even though the last bit was just his personal insight, he couldn't shake that bad feeling in his gut. His training as an assassin had taught him to ignore 'hunches', but his time with Batman had shown him that when it came to situations like this, his gut feeling was rarely wrong.

"Noted. How far is the ship?" Ignoring the question that obviously wasn't meant for him, Robin kept listening, trying to filter through some more helpful information.

"Less than a minute. They've just turned on their motor to pull in. I'm heading over now." Robin caught sight of something else.

"They've pulled the truck up just inside the warehouse, behind the guards. If they're making some sort of exchange, they'll probably do it inside so they're out of sight."

There was silence between the three as the barge finally pulled into the dock and dropped the gangplank. A tall, oily haired man in a suit was the first off as he shook hands with one of the smugglers on the docks. They spoke in hushed tones that Robin couldn't quite make out, but when they finally moved away from the gangplank, he saw a sight that made his blood run old.

"Children."

"What?"

Robin forced his voice quieter as he practically spat into the phone. "There's no guns or drugs, they're smuggling children. That's probably what caused such a big delay. What good would it do them to smuggle kids into Gotham?!"

Robin was aware that he sounded angry. He was. Despite coming across as composed and collected, when it came to people using children as tools, as expendable objects, as weapons?! Well, for him that went alongside animal cruelty among things that pissed him off the most. From what he could see through the open doorway on the barge, each child was dressed in rags, their hands bound in front of them and their bodies heavily bruised. It was Red Robin who answered this time, sounding just a little out of breath as he leapt between buildings.

"There's been rumours of a human trafficking ring in Gotham. Hood passed the info on to me but I couldn't find anything solid. This must be how their moving people without getting caught."

Pushing to the back of his mind a statement on how long Drake and Todd had been so chummy, he focused back on the men who were moving to make a path into the warehouse, guns raised. He was itching to bring his katana out and cut them down where they stood, but instead commed Batman, barely keeping a lid on his temper as he spoke.

"If they move the children to somewhere with more security, there won't be any getting them out. If we wait until they're in the trucks, then we risk injuring them if they crash while we're in pursuit. We have to move now." Damian gritted his teeth as the men started roughly herding children off of the barge.

"I agree with Robin on this one. I'm almost there. If we can apprehend some of the men we should be able to get information on the smuggling ring." As the last child was pushed off the boat, the men closed behind them with their guns trained forward, forcing the stranglers to pick up their pace.

"Agreed. Red Robin, meet up with me. Robin, stay in position. We have to wait for an opening, then one of us can distract them while the others…"

And that was when Robin stopped listening. The scene about to unfold in front of him took precedence. One of the children, a girl, maybe 8 years old, tripped over her own feet after being pushed by one of the men when she strayed too close to the sides of the path. The man immediately pointed his weapon at her and Robin tensed, about to jump off and tackle him to the ground, until that oily-haired string-bean sauntered forward, pushing the men aside and pulling a coiled whip from the back of his belt. The girl flinched as the uncoiled whip hit the ground, and the man raising his hand to bring it down on her was the final push Robin needed.

Before the man could hurt her, before he could even comprehend that something was wrong, the smuggler behind him was knocked down by a weight suddenly dropping down on his shoulders, then knocked out by a sword hilt to the head. Before any of the guards could even turn around, Damian was in his stance, brandishing his katana in front of him. When they finally shifted their sights to him, he was gone, rushing the nearest smuggler with a yell before cutting their firearm clean in half, then moving again, trying to lure them away from the children who didn't have the protective kevlar on their side that he did.

As soon as the shooting started he was focused on dodging, vaguely aware of the angry and concerned sounding 'Robin!' yelled through his earpiece. He kept moving parallel to the guards, moving closer to the truck to hopefully cut off their escape. He threw three batarangs while executing a flip, each landing in the barrel of a gun and making them explode into shrapnel the next time the user pressed the trigger. When the gunfire paused for a moment and the yelling intensified, Robin risked raising his head to see Batman landing next to the barge before rushing the smugglers, trying to get in closer before they had the chance to aim. Robin took the opportunity to do the same, aware that most of their attention would now be on Batman.

While most of the men charged towards Batman, abandoning their previous formation, Robin took out the last few guards between himself and the children. After knocking the last one to the ground with a nasty gash to the shoulder and a bad headache for the next time he woke up, he focused on the kids huddled on the ground. The oldest was maybe 13 and was crouched over some of the smaller children protectively. The youngest looked about 5. In total, there was 16 of them cowering under the hail of gunfire still flying through the air. When Robin approached he stayed hunched down low in hopes that no one would notice him. It seemed to work; even the children only noticed when he was hidden among them.

"All of you, listen up." He whispered harshly and watched their fearful faces turn their gazes at him. "My name is Robin. We're going to get you out of here but you have to do exactly as I say."

When they each nodded hesitantly, Robin took a quick glance at his surroundings. He could see Red Robin lurking in the shadows behind him, taking out the men who got too close to the edge of the group while staying out of sight. Robin locked eyes with him for a second and motioned his head towards the kids. He saw Red Robin nod and disappear into the shadows again right before his comms crackled to life.

"Robin, send them all over to me on my signal. Work your way towards Batman and make sure none of those smugglers come this way. It'll take me a minute to get them all away from the fight so make sure I'm covered." Robin turned his nose up at the thought of being ordered, but nodded, though more to himself, before turned his attention back to the children who were peering at him expectantly.

"I have a friend waiting by the south corner. Run straight to him once he makes a move, he'll get you the rest of the way out of here. I'll be behind you making sure none of those men can catch up. Are you all ok to move?" He spoke uncharacteristically softly to them, trying not to spook them any more than they already were. Just as he received uncertain nods, a series of smoke pellets rained down from the rafters between their group and the bulk of the goons.

"Now!" At Robin's call, all of the kids started running while Robin charged into the smoke. Not needing to have to rely on his sight, he focused on the sounds of yelling and incoming footsteps and raised his katana.

"Don't let them get away!" Slash. "Those brats are our payday!" Thump. "Hey, here's someone in here!" The occasional scream or gunshot rang out as more bodies hit the floor, Robin moving seamlessly through the smoke, but more kept coming and the smoke was starting to clear up.

As one thug caught sight of the retreating children, he raised his gun and fired in their direction, stopping when Robin cut him down from behind, before dodging more gunfire and turning to face two more smugglers behind him. While most of the children had made it to Red Robin, who was herding them further out of the line of sight, Robin saw two children cut off by a line of gunfire that peppered the ground in front of them. While the others ran along the docks to relative safety, the remaining two darted into the warehouse, hiding among the boxes and crates that were left in the facility. One of the thugs (who had probably given up on fighting at that point), chased after them, probably hoping to secure their 'payday'. Knocking down the men he was facing, Robin turned to chase after them.

"There are two kids in the warehouse. I'm going after them." Batman interfered again, trying to call him off.

"Robin, wait. I'm almost done and Red Robin needs—" Robin shut off his comm and delved further into the building. Drake could handle himself; there were still two civilians and at least one lowlife rat trying to get away. After glancing around and seeing nothing, Robin figured he would need to get above the maze of boxes to find them. Once he'd fired his grapple and pulled himself back onto the rafters, he was interrupted by a child's high-pitched scream. Robin immediately set off in that direction, trying to stay quiet so that he wouldn't alert them while moving as fast as he could. He could hear loud voices accompanied by small whimpers echo as he approached the back of the warehouse, nearing the side exit.

"What do we do, boss? The Bat's blocking the way to the cars - there's no way we can't get the brats out!" Robin could make out two figures while he was running, each holding a writhing form in their arms. In just a few more seconds he would be on top of them.

"Forget them; we've lost this round. The cops will be here soon and we need to scram. The only thing that's left for us is to take out the trash."

BANG!

…

A gunshot echoed through the warehouse and Robin froze as a small body hit the floor. He watched, seemingly in slow motion, as the boss, that oily haired slimeball, dropped the lifeless child he was holding and levelled his revolver at the other kid who was still trapped in the other thug's grasp. Both of the men wore matching smug grins as his finger tightened on the trigger and the child wept silent tears, clenching her eyes closed for the last time.

"NO!" Regaining movement just before the gun discharged, Robin whipped out a batarang and sent it flying towards the man's hand.

BANG!

The projectile hit its mark right as the bullet released from the chamber.

Another child's body fell to the ground, still.

Damian had dropped down right after he threw the batarang, but found he could barely move. A boy, maybe his age, stared at him with lifeless blue eyes. The little girl was lying with her back facing him, blood seeping through the back of her shirt. He glared at the two men. The boss was clutching his bleeding hand while his revolver skittered across the floor. The other didn't have a weapon, the coward probably abandoned it in the fight outside. Both of them backed away a few steps when Robin landed. The stillness lasted a few seconds at most before Robin charged them with a yell.

The smuggler was closer, so he went after him first. The man practically stumbled over his own feet trying to get away, but Damian was much faster. Robin brought his katana down in a slash that would have cut across his chest if he hadn't turned away, instead landing a deep gash from his shoulder to his elbow. He cried out in pain, but Robin wasn't finished with him. While he clutched his arm, Robin sent a roundhouse kick which landed on his lower left ribs; he felt and heard the crack under his heel. The force of it knocked the man headfirst into a metal support beam and he crumpled to the ground. Leaving him, for now, he turned back to the main perpetrator.

The man had made a break for his gun, but fumbled it with his injured hand and sent it skittering away again. He went crawling after it like the dog he was, and when he reached for it again, he let out a howl of pain and Damian crushed his good hand under his boot. Robin stepped away just long enough for him to get back to his feet before jabbing him in the throat and sweeping them out from under him again. He pushed the tip of his sword against the now blubbering man's throat.

"Can you tell me what sort of pathetic existence takes pleasure in shooting an innocent child?" He let his hatred fester in his voice, b the boss just spit out nonsensical syllables in response. Robin removed the sword from his throat, and with a flourish, plunged it straight into his thigh. While the man howled and writhed in pain, Robin pressed his knee onto the man's ribs and roughly gripped his collar, pulling his face up to it was only inches from his.

"Tell me! What did you want with these kids? Where were you taking them?!"

When the man again didn't answer with actual words, Robin lifted him by his collar, kneed him as hard as he could in the gut and threw him into a nearby crate, making it shatter under the weight. When he caught the man trying to crawl away again, he made a deep slash in his side, making him crumple again. He bent back over him, levelling his sword so it trailed a thin line of blood as it pressed against his neck again.

"Last chance, who are you working for?!" Damian was shouting now. The coward was trembling underneath him, making the line on his neck start to drip with blood. At the lack of an answer, Robin narrowed his eyes and pressed down just a little bit harder…

"Robin!"

The boy in question scowled and delivered a swift punch to the man's temple, knocking him out. He stood up to face Batman, who had just arrived and was taking in the scene. He let his eyes settle on Robin for a second and Damian scoffed.

"They're alive, more than I can say for their victims."

Batman turned to face the two bodies near the side exit and strode towards them, checking the boy first before moving onto the girl. He rolled her onto her back and pressed two fingers to her neck. Then, Robin watched as his eyes widened and movements became frantic. The next words sent a jolt through the boy wonder.

"She's still alive." Robin rushed over and skidded to a stop beside her. "Her pulse and breathing are weak, but still there. She's passed out from the blood loss; we need to staunch the wound before she bleeds out."

Robin followed his instructions and pulled a roll of gauze from his utility belt, pressing the whole thing against the bleeding wound just above her clavicle. Meanwhile, Batman made sure her airways were clear and carefully shifted her so he could check for an exit wound.

"The bullet went through. We need to wrap it now but it looks like it just clipped the artery. As long as she gets medical attention soon, she should recover." Robin let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding, and help prop the girl up. He mentally cursed himself for not checking on her sooner, for not checking if she was alive, but sent out a silent thanks that she had been. When Batman finally finished wrapping her in bandages, he lifted her into his arms and swiftly carried her outside. After checking the other two men were still unconscious and keeping his gaze off of the corpse just a few feet away, Robin followed.

Once he was back out in the open, he could hear police sirens not far off. All of the men outside were unconscious, and Red Robin was working on cuffing them, favouring his left leg. His right thigh was wrapped in bloodstained bandages. Curious, Robin decided to press his luck and ask.

"What happened to your leg?" Red Robin sent a death glare at him as he responded curtly.

"Bullet wound. Just scraped it. Should be fine to move on but it wouldn't have happened if someone was watching my back." Robin shook off the guilt that was gnawing at him as he followed Batman to where the other children were gathered around the side of the warehouse. After depositing the unconscious girl, he addressed Robin.

"Wait in the Batmobile. We shouldn't be long here." Robin turned around to argue but was cut off before he started speaking.

"You've done enough here. Red Robin and I will handle the cleanup. As I said, we won't be long." A pointed glare was all it took for Robin to go trudging back towards the Batmobile, sheathing his katana and adjusting his hood around his ears as he did. As he passed by the unconscious bodies still littering the scene, he noted that there was blood mixed with the bullet casings left on the ground, and many of the men were clutching cuts and stab wounds and groaning despite being unresponsive; Robin would probably get an earful about that later.

"Tt."

He reached the Batmobile, parked a quarter-mile away, and flopped down on the passenger seat, letting the door slide shut next to him. The silence that followed was broken by a thud as Robin threw his fist at the dashboard, a growl slipping through his clenched teeth. So what if those scumbags were hurt? They deserved it! Why was Batman treating him like he was the offender here?! He let out a long sigh and stared out the tinted window until Batman arrived several minutes later. The Batmobile peeled out of the warehouse district with a roar, but the interior of the vehicle was silent throughout the long ride home.

As soon as the Batmobile pulled into the Batcave, shortly followed by Red Robin's motorcycle, Damian clambered out and walked away without another word, aiming to leave before his lecture for the night. He peeled off his mask and flipped his hood back, heading towards the showers until his father interrupted.

"Among the many, many mistakes you made tonight, you let your anger get the better of you, something that almost cost and 8-year-old girl her life, and put our most likely source of information in critical condition. Please explain what part of all that allows you to walk away and call it a night?"

Robin sighed and prepared himself.

"I'm sorry for not checking on the girl sooner, it was an error on my part, but I don't regret what I did to those men. They were worthless scum that don't deserve the air that they breathe."

Batman scowled as, behind him, Red Robin took his cowl off and hobbled his way to the medical wing.

"That's not up to us to decide, Damian. You should know by now the importance of restraint. Your can anger can be an asset, but only once you learn to control it."

His patronising tone was enough to make Damian snap at the imposing figure before him.

"I can control my anger just fine! I was taught to serve justice where it's earned. When they lowered themselves to slaughtering children like cattle, they sentenced themselves to exactly what they got."

"What they deserve is up to the law to decide. At least half those men needed immediate treatment to avoid severe haemorrhaging, and you've proven to be just as capable with non-lethal weapons. You surpassed your jurisdiction and used excessive force under your own discretion, resulting in unnecessary risks for others involved."

"They're lucky I didn't impale them."

"And what have I told you about using your sword?" The Dark Knight was raising his voice at this point.

"It's not like I was trying to kill them!" Damian defended himself adamantly.

"That doesn't change the fact that you easily could have! We agreed that your katana was a last resort, mainly because it causes much more damage than necessary. Several of those men were sent to the hospital for lacerations to their limbs. Those last two men were severely wounded, possibly comatose after you lost control! If I hadn't stepped in when I did you would have gone too far!" Damian paused at that. The bat glare his father had settled on him was detached and cold and his voice was quieter and controlled when he spoke again.

"Apart from that, you disobeyed orders on not one, but three occasions, which resulted in Tim being injured and the other children being put at risk. The world doesn't revolve around you, Damian. You lack any sense of the consequences of your actions on those around you, more than that, you don't care. If you can't listen to orders because you're so set on whatever 'code' the League of Assassins taught you, then I may as well send you back there."

Tim's breath caught in his throat and Alfred, who had just walked in, raised an eyebrow questioningly. Damian's eyes betrayed a mix of fear and disbelief. He wouldn't send him back; he wouldn't make him go back to that place. His father wouldn't do that to him. He wouldn't, would he?

When Batman saw the terror-filled look on his son's face, he let out a deep sigh and lowered his cowl, still sending Damian a firm glare, but not breaking the silence that had settled in the room.

So of course, Nightwing chose that moment to arrive through the zeta beams, absolutely covered in mud and grinning like an idiot until he noticed the very poorly concealed tension.

"Do I want to know what happened?"

Tim shifted on the gurney he was sitting on to face him, and without humour, responded. "Damian sent half a child smuggling ring to the ICU."

Batman ignored Nightwing's interruption and Red Robin's response, instead narrowing his eyes at Robin, who looked like he was trying to spontaneously develop laser vision while glaring at the ground. If you looked close enough, you might have just been able to pick up on the slight quiver in his lower lip.

"It has become apparent that you are deficient in many of the skills required to effectively work in a team. Having said that, you won't be patrolling Gotham with me for the foreseeable future. Instead, until you learn to play nice with others, I will be sending you to join the Team with Nightwing and Red Robin."

An incredulous "WHAT?!" was heard from three separate mouths, but Batman walked away, heading to the Batcomputer after delivering his verdict.

"It was something I've already considered for the future, but it seems that having him join now will do more good. The Team is already aware of the existence of another Robin, so there shouldn't be much explanation in order. As long as they aren't aware of any of his blood relations to me or the League of Assassins, there shouldn't be any issues. As far as how well he integrates with the Team, well, that'll be up to him. Nightwing will handle mission assignments as usual."

"You've gotta be kidding me…" An incredulous sounding Tim was the first to speak shortly followed by Damian with renewed vigour.

"Father, you can't seriously be sending me to fraternise with a bunch of incompetent teenagers?! Besides being a total waste of my time and skills that would be better put to use in Gotham, I see no benefit for either party if I'm forced to join Grayson's kiddy club."

Ignoring Dick's 'You're still a kid', Batman was already typing away at the large screens across the cave and spoke with a slightly bored tone.

"The Team has had numerous accomplishments as the undercover division of the League and are successful in their own right. Most of the members aren't far from your age - Dick's one of the oldest there - and it will do you some good to hang out with other teenagers; hell, maybe you'll even make friends. Either way, this is not up for discussion; you need to learn how to work in a group setting. Since it's a weekend, you'll be introduced later this morning and spend the day there. You will attend mandatory training and at least one hour each day you're not otherwise occupied here. I suggest you get some sleep, we leave in 6 hours."

When it was clear the conversation was over, Damian stomped off the showers, practically growling as he walked past the others.

"This'll be interesting." Dick sounded amused as he walked away and Tim groaned, laying back on the gurney so Alfred could stitch the gash in his leg. Alfred couldn't help but agree as he watched his youngest charge leave completely exasperated, and was silently thankful he wouldn't be present for what he was sure would be an eventful meeting.

**Author's Note:**

> For now, I've only posted the prologue.  
> Let me know what you guys think.


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